, from the verb rumpere; the current senses (late 16th cent.) are from obsolete Frenchroute, probably from Italianrotta

‘break-up of an army’

; the other senses are via Anglo-Norman Frenchrute.Extra examplesHe resigned after being routed in the leadership election.The Royalist forces were routed.The massed army of conscripts had been enough to rout their opponents.